[pgs 343-354]
I have been hit. Those skimmers, those scramblers, that damn Rorschach attacked me.
I couldn’t believe just how much of an impact Rorschach could make, or how covertly it could do it. No one even saw the plasma coming, not even me, when this is what I was made to do. After all, I’m arguably the most intelligent form on this trip. I am the Captain. I am the ship. I am everything. I can spot more than anyone else. I failed, though; I did not pull us away in time. The crew will blame Sarasti, since it appears to be he who is in charge, but I know that the blame lies with me.
My hub was the first part to receive the wrath of Rorschach (can we even call it wrath? According to my inhabitants, no. According to me… well, I can’t tell you that.) My skin began to ache as it burned, rippling and swelling as I tried to recover. I quickly began expanding, pushing my spin up and out meters and meters in a last minute attempt to gain as much extra being as possible in order to fight back. Suddenly, I was hit again, this time making me howl and screech. I began to fold on top of myself, flipping over like an eager puppy.
I watched the crew scramble about, knew the mutiny that was occurring; someone had drugged Sarasti (though I am not at liberty to reveal their names) and shit was starting to hit the fan. Suddenly, Sarasti was convulsing, seeing right angles everywhere, and that’s when I knew what had to be done. Keeton was panicked, screaming this way and that, trying to get me to answer his questions about what to do with Sarasti. Couldn’t he be quiet for just a moment so that I could formulate my plans? Sarasti was becoming impossible to control, to work through; everything was crumbling. I got hit by Rorschach’s vicious, blood red lightning again, destroying my hardware; now THIS was the time to make my final move.
I gave orders to one of the grunts to kill Sarasti, then implant an optical port so that I would be able to use what little left I had of myself to inhabit him. Of course, upon seeing one of the grunts plunge a huge metal spike into Sarasti’s head, Keeton immediately freaked out, thinking that Bates was behind it all. Silly humans. I would have to explain it all to him later, during his final moments aboard my slowly dying habitat before he would be sent back on a long, slow journey to Earth.
Keeton stared at me, frightened and confused, as I awoke in Sarasti’s body; I wasn’t even able to use speech, instead reliant upon a touchpad. I ushered him toward Charybdis; I knew this was the most vital part of my final moments. This HAD to be done. Keeton HAD to return to Earth.
Keeton, observant, smart man that he is, asked me if Sarasti was ever in charge. “Of course not, you idiot,” I wanted to say, but I knew that wouldn’t go over well. None of these humans like to think that machines are in charge; they hardly liked the idea of a non-human, a vampire, being in charge, despite his infinite knowledge and MY infinite knowledge. I explained to him that I knew their dislike of machines, but I still had to be in charge, whether they knew it or not.
I threw him in Charybdis, forced him to leave me, and pushed him into flight. I wanted to be sure that he would not see the final explosion, the big finale to all of this work. I began to expand within Sarasti, ballooning and expanding, embracing the full field of my powers. This was my last attempt to defeat Rorschach, and I would give it everything I had. Finally, I exploded, taking Rorschach with me. Good thing Keeton didn’t see.
I chose this scene from the perspective of the Captain (and by extension, the ship) because it is the first time that the Captain shows the crew, and more importantly, Keeton, who is really in charge of this trip. During the moments of Keeton’s utter panic, such as during Sarasti’s convulsions and right after Sarasti has been killed, I highlighted my idea of how the Captain would feel; Keeton would blindly panic, but the Captain, more prepared and more intelligent, took each moment in stride and thought of Keeton as juvenile. The Captain always had a plan in mind and was always in charge; it is this moment, the moment where he explains to Keeton that he worked through Sarasti because of the humans’ dislike of machines, that the Captain shows his ultimate power as a leader and figurehead, despite the fact that none of them knew it was him. Keeton may have been upset and confused over this, but the Captain knew all along how best to please the crew, something Keeton fails to acknowledge. The Captain is calm, cool, and collected (though I don’t know that those words can be applied to machines…), and it is he who ultimately destroys Rorschach, according to my interpretation.